Welding



July 10, 1928. 1,676,282

- G. H. PHELPS ELECTRIC WELDING Filed Marcus, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 & n A

IN VE N TOR GEORGEH /154 PS.

July 10, 1928. 1.676282 G. H. PHELPS ELECTRIC WELDING Filed March 5, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a embodiments of Patented July 10, 1928.

"UN TED TATE-.

GEORGE H. PHELIRSII, or

L SATENT Q F WAREHOUSE POINT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THOMAS E. MURRAY,- OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC WEIiDlNGF. I

T Application filed March 5,

My invention aims to provide an improved apparatus and method of fcontrol ii'n certain classes o'tjelectric' welding operations.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Figgl is-a side elevation'of a welding machine;'

Fig. 2 is alongitudinal section of certain controlling means;

Fig.3 is a similar \lCW of a modification;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a piece of Work welded in the machine I In"resistance butt vv'eldingan'd similar classes of electric welding,"-it E isysometimes adv'a'htagc'ous 'tio usedifierent degrees of presf sure on the work in the equrs'e 'of; making'a single weld, or to use different speeds of take-up or travel of .the Weldin'ghea'd, in the course of a singleiveld. It'is ,difiicultitogetl a 'wide' differenc efih the pifessures or speeds.

illustrated 1's 1 d'e'gi nea to} se to take up'.the metal'gasdt' softens." The controlling circuits may be of welding and 7 .design and are, therefore, not

any ordinary illustrated.

The advance of the head 5 is efi'ected by apressure'magnet 9,'orsolenoid, in a frame the articulareinh odi 'ment of 1327. ser al No. 172,963;

lO-mounted on the machine frame by bolts The plung'er 12 of the magnet carries a projecting piston rod 13 of non-magnetic material which passes through the magnetplug 14, which latter isscrewed'to' the magnet frame 10. Therea'r end ofthe plunger 12 earriesja cross-head 15 against the opposite lateral-projecting ends ofw'hich two com-' pressed springs 16 bear to retract the plungcr'and hold the cross-head 15 against nuts 17 on the ends' of rods which pass through the'zs'prings'.

The piston rod 13 carries a piston 18 mov-- ing inacyllnder 19. The pist )n 'r 0 d has an extended forward portion 20 passingt'hrough the' head of the/- cyli der and connectedthiou'gli a joint 21th the sliding pres-' sure headj5i The'joint is-preferably flexible toavoid th'e' necessity of accurately lining up the parts, thoughthis is rather-a con-' reservoir; Aj' ch'amber o'r' passage' 24 leads tof an 'bpen irig' 2'5-11'1 -'-t-he=ir eservoir past a needle valve 26 which is threaded to permit' fine adjustmentarid-carries-a ipointer 27 to; indicate -its position. Normallythe valve 26Qisfopen to such an extent as-to determine a"' eo'rnp'arativ ely slow=applic2itiori= of; pres-= Su'r'' and speed to the "welding head by ab-- sorbing -a large Partofthe pressure of the magnet- 'i'n the effort of the 1 piston to force the ioilithrough' the restricted passage.

The cylinder; also-communicates: with the: reservoir through'alarger'opening 28; The: passage-is normallyclosed by'a'poppet valve- 29 which is pressed against' it-s s'eat by a spring 30 engaging a shoulder on the external stem 31. The opening provided bythis valve permits a very much more rapid movement of the piston and the welding head and maybe so large as to oppose practiet' acts w'ith a very cally no resistance; thus permitting thefiill pressure and speed of the magnet to be communicated to the work.

The valve 29 'is opened at a determined point in the operation by a simple tripping device. A lever pivoted at a fixed point beyond the end of the cylinder has'onearm 32 hearing on the end of the valvestem 3L and another arm 33 which lies in the path of the adjustable shoulder. 34 on the rod-20 \Vhcn this shoulder strilges the. arm; 33 and opens the valve 29'the pressuie magnet acts instantly andpowerfully to force thewelding-head forward to the end ofthestrolce,

v \Vhcn;the current. is cut offfrom the mag: net, and the core of the tlatter is pressed. back by the Springs,;theipiston returns'easily, suction. serving to open {the .valye 2 9 sufficiently for movement; The reservoi r; 23 is Isupplied.

with .oil orgother, liquid. as .may be needed through an opening at the top closed by a fifii i. "t 1'- :U: [l-,I;

1 More thantwo speeds maybmobtained by using additionalvalves, the opening ,qfi ea ch valve in turn allowing-more. ra id motion of the-piston and welder head. 5r, if-desired, these ,changesjor an'y. p art' .of them can-be reversed by. closing a valve instead of open.-= ing one. i ..-An apparatus of .this character is-jllustrated-in-Eig. 3. i ,He'refihepassage cornmunicates with the .passage :28 throughtwo va lves.'-.';; 'Besides the malve 29, \above referred to, which givesflpraeticallycomplete.

' relief, ,-the're..is an adjustable valve to give an intermediate degree ,of relief (and pres.-, sure.): A sort of needle valve-35 isthreaded and .adjustable toward. andfrom the open ing 3.6 between fthe.two .passagesfl tand 280 A poppet valve 37'closes the; same portBG, being held to its seat by the outside spring 38'surrounding the stem of the valve. The controlling lever int-his case has an arm;39 witlntsvo adjustable stops thereon, 4O and/11;

\Vhen the collar 34 on the rod QOJSlQIikQS the-arm 33 the poppet valve 37 is pushed open and the resistanceto the advance of the piston is-diminish'edito' the extent of the opening regulated by the valve 35, the-pressure and-speed of the welding head being correspondingly}increased. {This condition co'ntinuesi un'til the st0p-.4l.stri-kes the stern 31 of the. largest-valve .and provides complete 0r; substanti-a'llycomplete relief.

The control effected is directly on the .pis ton and: pressuremagnet, bytabsorbing a part of thisz pressure, leaving only the bal= ane'e of the pressure-effective on the welding hea'd-5. If the! metal of the work is hard enough at any instant it may also serve to diminish the rate. ofadv'ance or take-up of the work.- ;\Vhere.a high current density across-the joint is effective, so that softening of the-metal atthe joint is practically instantaneous, the means for controlling the pressure is-practically the dnly control of the rate of take-up. The opening effected by the valve 29, in the last stage of the opera tion, may also be regulated to absorb a part of the pressure on the piston and thus determine the maximum speed; though it is preferable to make this opening so large as, to, removepractically all resistance, regulating the pressure at this stage of the weld by adjusting the strength of the pressure magnet itsel f.

I By -varying;the absoluteand relative sizes of the open ngs controlled,by the several valves, the rate of tal temp can .be varied, either .so gas to make it virtually constant throughout or so as to secure any desired combination ofiearly andtlatespeeds.

A special application of. theijiuecha'fiism, and: t -i n whwa aatiiiw c it wi m st; fircq em yiz .u ednis th t .in' wh. l the early rate oftravel is soj slow asjtocaiise a pressure which is abnorpaally low and in s me sases ;P. ;t .al y-.-. axThis fi is eovered in ,a' previous application of mine N 0. 132,768,.jfiled August 18,: 1 924. Itiisithe method which Ishavghsd withpsu ecessfin welding the ends .of cablesll -(Fig. 4) 'against the convexg siide .rofi a cylindrical terminal 2 to; form a railbond. The .re sult jis. a :fiash weld, or gc ombjn'atiodpfg flashl. andibutt de ndi -'0 s the.vY a r' i i-i and their. timing'ion, Whther thefijveldiiig em tsi Wtnq n r thlg Qf the heavy rpressure ori whetherfiiu tfwelding with Che currepficqntin lr PrOceedsu nder this heavy pre s sur e ame i na. la l1 l ls fi w n a i is appl ed get, the megt that .t fi it j u e. nets er n ifi he Time: F1011 iia: sec nd: n. w ch 'p' if lh i dmg up 1n the; magnet, the {ireldingie ui'rent is burningfor (byv a series of 'srn'all arcs) the.v lojf dt f ie work pieces ivhich toucheachother attheirjhighpoints of eoutact. The wjeld' then movedforward slowly because of the. .slight opening of the :needle. valve; 26;. moving r apidly enoughto applying substantiial'pr'essure to the work, the contact faceswof which; are be ng flashed 01. hinnedaway as fast as'they are being fed; the welding euri ent, be he -id sw t n'u d tbsla'r p p e va being open,;the.- heavy pressure will v-inerely Weld-7.. Bjit assui ning the weldinglcu rrent to continue, the opeiiil lgof the poppet valve will release the-pressure and a .ra' idl takeupgYilloccur whieh insta'ntaneous' y. forces therheated ends.- o f the work-together and great success ainduniformity of product on fast welding occupying from to of a too SeC0Ildu The same Controlling mechanism has been usedfor slower welding in which there werevarying proportions of fiash" and butt operations, from no flash andz all butt to no buttand all flashr In every case the regulation'of the apparatus is'easy-to accom plish'and the performance is very UI'IifOI'm. We have been un'able to detect any measurable variation in a set of fifteen consecutive autograph records of the time taken to travel one-half inch at the slow rate, that is under the low-pressure setting.

The apparatus for measuring these-:tests is capable of detecting differences as small as .01 of =a secon'd,-'and* the time measured in this series of tests was 0.75 of a second.

A common method of making flash welds has involved the moving of the welding head by means of a power driven cam. This has objections in the necessity of determining the proper shape of cam for each job by trial and that changes in line voltage, character of metal to be welded etc. can be comensated for onl by changing the cam or its speed of revolhtion.

I have endeavored to secure the desired control by the method described in the Holmes Patent No. 1,523,593 of January 20, 1925, using a pressure magnet and varying the current impressed on it at different points in the course of the operation. With all such apparatus it has been diflicult to secure an absolutely uniform control, and to change from one pressure to another sufiiciently quickly. In making welds within a fraction of a second it was found ditlicult to apply the heavy pressure suddenly enough to make it effective before the weld was finished.

With the present apparatus I do not have to generate or build up the high pressure. I have a high pressure at hand throughout the operation, held in check during the flashing period and then suddenly released when desired.

This is accomplished easily and with very uniform action. There is no gradual varia tion or shading from one pressure to another but a definite and practically constant pressure at one stage and a sudden change to another pressure, which again remains constant for a determined period, and so on.

The apparatus shown is practically universally adjustable for a great variety of welds. Where it is to be used on one particular welding operation, the ports may be of fixed size and the machine simplified to this extent. Assuming that we desire the full pressure of the magnet when the poppet valve is open, the magnet must then be regulated to produce the pressure desired and this may be done by any usual or suitable adjusting means such as a rheostat in the circuit of the magnet. The full magnet pressure accomplishes a considerable amount of hot workingof the metal as well as the forming of the weld. I

.Various other modifications in detail may be'madeby those skilled in the artwithout departure from the invention as defined in the following claims.

What I claim is:

.1. The combination with a movable head of an electric welding machine of a magnetic device for moving said head and means for limiting the speed by absorbing a part of the presure of said device during an early part of the movement and releasing the full pressure during a later part, said device being designed to exert at all times substantially the maximum pressure required so that upon said release there is a sudden application of maximum pressure.

2. The combination with the movable head of an electric welding machine of a magnetic device for moving said head designed to exert at all times the maximum pressure required and means for retarding the speed of movement under said maximum pressure.

3. The combination with the movable head of an electric welding machine of a magnetic device for moving said head designed to exert at all times the maximum pressure required and means for retarding the speed of movement under said maximum pressure during a part of the stroke and permitting full speed during another part of the stroke.

4. The combination with the-movable head of an electric welding machine of an actuating device for moving said head designed to exert at all times the maximum pressure required and means for limiting the movement to one constant speed throughout one part of the stroke and to another constant speed throughout another part of the stroke.

5. The combination with the movablehead of an electric welding machine of an actuating device for moving said head at the same speed as the movable part of the actuating device and designed to exert at all times the maximum pressure required and controlling means comprising a piston operated by said actuating device, a cylinder in which said piston operates and means for maintaining a back pressure on said piston and relieving such backpressure at a determined rate.

6. The combination with the movable head of an electric welding machine of means for controlling the speed of movement, said controlling means comprising a cylinder and piston and having a passageway outside of the cylinder communicating with the forward end thereof, adjustable means for graduating the opening through said passageway and means for opening said passageway wide to permit substantially unrestricted movement of the piston.

7. The combination with the movable head of a welding machine of a magnetic device designed to act with substantially the maximum pressure required and to move said head at the same velocity as the movable part of the magnetic device, and controlling means comprising a piston actuated by said magnetic device, a cylinder carrying an incompressible liquid against which said piston acts and relief means for relieving the pressure on said liquid andpermitting it to flow out of saideylinder at different certain rates which are substantially constant throughout certain portions of the movement, said relief means having a passageway which is sufiieiently large to release practically the full .pressureof the magnetic device, means for partially closing said passageway and means for opening said passageway fully during the end portion of the movement.

8. The combination in a welding machine of a movable head and power-actuated mechanism for advancing it with practically no pressure on the joint inthe beginning, sons to flash the adjacent faces of the work, and for then advancing it under pressure to effect the weld. I

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

. GEORGE H. PHELRS; 

